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Heavy water

Peter Hadfield reports on the theory that earthquakes in Japan may be related to air pressure due to the time of year (This Week, 26 November). I have two objections to this theory.

I deem it far more likely that the effect of increased water pressure would be the likely culprit. During the winter, the water is denser, and thus heavier. I suspect that this would “outweigh” the effect of denser air by several orders of magnitude.

Contrary to the position reported in the article, that higher air pressure would have no effect on the Philippine Sea plate because …